When talking about Wonder Woman, the conversation often turns to the bondage covers. This quirk of Wonder Woman’s has died down in recent years, but is still present, still considered a tradition and generally put down to Dr William Moulton Marston’s personal fantasies. While it’s undeniable that this had an effect on his creation, it’s worth remembering that the creator was a mental health expert during wartime, and if anyone was consciously thinking of multiple layers of symbolism when writing a comic book, it was him.
Don’t believe me? Well, try this 1942 Family Circle interview with Dr. Marston, on World War II-era Wonder Woman (Via) and her primary weapon. Bear in mind that back then the golden lasso (or lariat) compelled someone to obey her commands, not simply tell the truth.
“The chains that the Nazis forge on conquered people,” I muttered, “seem a whole lot stronger than the bonds of personal charm!”
“Ah, they only seem that way,” the oracle replied And he continued with an exposition of the upside-downness of popular thought. Chains of force are always broken sooner or later. No human being can put another’s soul or spirit in bondage, only his body. And in the end the inner self triumphs over the outer; mind and personality win back their control over flesh. Nazi chains already are beginning to snap in “conquered” France, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Czechoslovakia, sabotage and killing of oppressors goes on increasingly. But the real turn of the tide will come when Hitler loses his persuasive charm control over the German people.
Dr. Marston reminded me that Hitler gained his initial power by stirring oratory and personal magnetism-the magic-lasso method-not by force. When he resorted to force in the famous beer cellar Putsch he failed miserably and spent a year in prison. Mussolini similarly achieved his dictatorship by the magic of his persuasive tongue, and now, when force and military ability are needed in place of persuasiveness and drama, Il Duce is on the skids. Churchill never won a military campaign in his life, prior to the present war, but his political oratory has always been outstanding and the power of his keen mind and prolific pen has been equaled by few modern writers. President Roosevelt has one of the most charming personalities in the world and be casts this magic lasso over the radio with unerring aim. Three times he has caught and bound with his charm a large majority of American voters. And the Doctor asks, “Can you doubt that Roosevelt’s control over America is stronger than Hitler’s over occupied France?”
It’s fascinating symbolism, changed considerably by the retcon of the golden lasso as a truth serum. This was done to honor Marston, but does it reflect on morality? Wonder Woman was recast from a symbol of pure empowerment and rebellion to the embodiment of truth when DC rebooted her. There the symbolism changes from the bonds of personal charm overcoming those of force to the bonds of truth overcoming those of deceit. No less relevant or compelling once her powers have changed.
But still, no matter how much we analyze current events, or how innocent it seems, someone will always see the covers and situations in Wonder Woman suggestively and argue this view to downplay her value as a rolemodel for young women. How to answer this? How does a Feminist reconcile fandom with images of Dr Psycho standing over a tied-up superheroine? How does a father justify letting his daughter read such a book, even a child’s version? Is there a powerful lesson for readers even in what looks like a slightly skeevy kink?
“So men have magic lassos, then, as well as women,” I remarked. “And your own verbal lariat seems to be roping me in today.”
“But you mustn’t let it hold you,” he grinned. “Wonder Woman can break any rope or chain with which a mere man tries to bind her. She stays bound only as long as may be necessary to accomplish her good purpose-then tears off her man-made shackles and goes to work on the man!”
At this point I protested. “Women enjoy being bound by men; it’s less work and more fun than keeping male captives secure. Girls like to get their man, then surrender to him.”
“And what happens next?” prompted the psychologist. “The man loses interest completely. No man wants to be freed by the girl who has caught him and no man has the slightest interest in tying up a girl who holds out her hands to be bound. If he takes her as his property, that’s a bad day for both of them. The man begins to use dominance, and that’s acutely painful for the woman captive. Wonder Woman and her sister Amazons have to wear heavy bracelets to remind them of what happens to a girl when she lets a man conquer her. The Amazons once surrendered to the charm of some handsome Greeks and what a mess they got themselves into. The Greeks put them in chains of the Hitler type, beat them, and made them work like horses in the fields. Aphrodite, goddess of love, finally freed these unhappy girls. But she laid down the rule that they must never surrender to a man for any reason. I know of no better advice to give modern women than this rule that Aphrodite gave the Amazon girls.”
The backstory’s changed, Aphrodite’s been shuttled to the background, Steve Trevor married off, and romance effectially nonexistant in Diana’s life since the last reboot, but all the same, I won’t be able to look at those cover galleries the same way again.
June 21st, 2006 at 2:08 am
Wow that is so amazingly cool.
Quoth:
> “I know, I know. You’ll be writing advertising next But I came here to ask you about the war. Women feel so helpless and depressed about it. I wish you’d answer one question for Family Circle readers: Will war ever end in this world; will men ever stop fighting?”
> “Oh, yes. But not until women control men,” he answered mildly.
> “According to the Wonder Woman formula, I suppose?”
> “That’s it exactly!” The Doctor got up from his chair and began to pace the floor as he e talked a mannerism that betokens extreme interest and enthusiasm.
I always prefer the issues where Diana is the one doing the binding myself, so this totally appeals to me.